晴空萬里 // clear sunny skies for ten thousand miles

12,225 steps — this is the daily average that I walked during my second visit to Hong Kong. For me, the movement symbolises my restlessness and my search for something new. At the same time, I realised that my fascination with these sceneries is a reflection and expression of my inner turbulence and my longing for direction. I feel a desire to arrive, but I don’t yet know my destination. My environment becomes a resonator and enables me to express what I cannot find words for. Maybe others will understand the pictures as I do. I feel simultaneously foreign and yet somehow at home. My new friends, my partner, and her family give me a sense of familiarity and security.

The ambivalence of my feelings becomes visible between the pace of the city and the moments of calm in my safe spaces. Pressing the shutter button is one such moment of calm; the events around me slow down and I can find my focus. The book is not a documentary and is not fully representative of Hong Kong. Rather, it is the view of a stranger who finds himself in these depicted moments. Even if it’s a world that I don’t understand much of, I now understand my insecurities a little better and am learning to accept them. Many questions remain unanswered for me. For example if this could be our home in the future. On the other hand, I know that sometimes, the grass only seems to be greener on the other side.

I hope to see you again soon.